PETALING JAYA: An action group has called for immediate action for parents to meet children kept at welfare centres after being rescued from homes linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH).
The group also demanded immediate access for the media and members of the group to meet parents and children at the welfare centres and inspect conditions there.
The action group, called Gerakan Pulangkan Anak-Anak Kami, also demanded an immediate public inquiry and parliamentary investigation into the police action which led to the arrest of people linked to the company.
The group’s spokesman, Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz, said 96 people, parents of 174 detained children, seek the return of the children to their respective families after being held apart for almost a month.
He disputed claims by the police and welfare department that the children had been rescued; instead, he alleged they had been illegally detained, in contravention of the law, human rights and an international convention on children’s rights.
The group made 12 demands on the government. The other demands are:
- Immediately return the children to their parents;
- Take disciplinary action against the police and welfare officers for their actions and their intelligence failure;
- Take disciplinary action against the police and welfare officers for taking advantage of the parents’ lack of understanding of the law;
- To carry out a judicial review of an order to extend the detention of the children;
- To provide access for the media and GPAAK to the parents and children who are currently housed at the welfare department detention centre.
- To order a parliamentary select committee to investigate the inspector-general of police and the director-general of welfare services for violating the Convention of the Rights of Child.
- To investigate the background and credibility of Pukas, a group that researches deviant teachings and an alleged former GISBH member;
- For the federal and state governments to stop issuing “baseless, defamatory and nonsensical” statements related to GISBH;
- The resignation of inspector-general of police, Selangor Islamic religious department director and the Perlis mufti;
- The resignation of the home minister and of the minister for women, family and community development.
On Sept 11, police rescued 402 children from 20 welfare homes in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan which the authorities had linked to GISBH. They also arrested 171 people, including an ustaz and a hostel warden.
According to the police, investigations showed that at least 13 of the children were sodomised or taught to sexually assault others.
